By Andrew Bansal
Perennial rockers Motörhead have released their 21st studio album ‘Aftershock’ today via UDR Music. Earlier this year, concerns began to grow amongst fans regarding Lemmy’s health issues, but brushing all such issues aside, the rock icon along with his band mates Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee belted out yet another new album, staying as prolific as ever. Their previous album ‘The World Is Yours’ (2011) was a typically solid set of tunes glorifying a style of rock n’ roll which Motörhead have made their own. Granted that they’ve musically already done everything throughout the course of their revered career and they couldn’t possibly have anything left to proove, a new Motörhead album is an exciting event for any true fan of heavy music, and with that attitude, I gave ‘Aftershock’ a few spins to find out what it has to offer.
The album begins with ‘Heartbreaker’ which has been promoted as the single, and i certainly gives Aftershock a catchy start. When it comes to albums, I’m a very old-fashioned guy and I listen to albums front to back, so the first track is of the highest importance when it comes to determining the quality of an album. ‘Heartbreaker’ delivers on that front, and the album only gets better with the next track ‘Coup de Grace’ which showcases Phil Campbell’s guitar mastery to a greater extent. These two tracks are more than sufficient to get any Motörhead fan stoked for the rest of the album, but then a curve ball is thrown at the listener with a slow, bluesy track called ‘Lost Woman Blues’. It presents Lemmy’s vocal abilities in a different light and it’s something Motörhead did a few times on past albums with songs like ‘Whorehouse Blues’, and if anything, they should have done more of it in the past because it sounds fantastic.
Almost expectedly, the next track ‘End Of Time’ is a complete contrast in every sense, and to put it simply, it’s Aftershock’s Ace Of Spades song. ‘Do You Believe’ and ‘Death Machine’ offer yet more rock n’ roll goodness, with Campbell’s guitar doing a bulk of the work, making every single note talk. Another slow song ‘Dust And Glass’ follows, with Lemmy’s tender vocal side surfacing once again and providing much delight to those Motörhead fans who seek something different from the norm. Speaking of the norm, the rest of the album takes the course of a regular Motörhead album which isn’t a bad thing whatsoever, because up till its halfway point the album throws plenty of variety at the listener and starting with track #8 ‘Going To Mexico’ it settles into an unmistakably catchy rock n’ roll groove which takes it to its final track ‘Paralyzed’.
Overall, it’s safe to say that any Motörhead fan would be satisfied with what this album offers musically, but with that said it does boast of variety from one song to the next in terms of tempo and style, a degree of variety that’s perhaps greater than some of the past few Motörhead albums. Lemmy still rocks the bass and vocals as good as ever and Mikkey Dee is perfect on drums, but I strongly feel Phil Campbell has shone through on this album more than I was expecting. ‘Aftershock’ is another compelling reminder of the fact that there is no such thing as a bad Motörhead album. Fans of the band shouldn’t even think twice about buying this. It’s worth the money and so much more.
Rating: 9/10
Related: Report + Photo Gallery – Motörhead ‘Aftershock’ Listening Party
Record Label: UDR Music
Release Date: October 22nd 2013
Track Listing:
01. Heartbreaker
02. Coup De Grace
03. Lost Woman Blues
04. End Of Time
05. Do You Believe
06. Death Machine
07. Dust And Glass
08. Going To Mexico
09. Silence When You Speak To Me
10. Crying Shame
11. Queen Of The Damned
12. Knife
13. Keep Your Powder Dry
14. Paralyzed
Links:
iMotorhead.com
facebook.com/OfficialLemmy
twitter.com/myMotorhead